Spring Break
Abstract:
The last thing I needed was another committee assignment, but this one was hard to say no to. First, President Turner asked me to be on this committee, the Task Force on Substance Abuse Prevention, and, well, when he asks, I try to help. But more important, the deaths of three students, including one who had sat in my office shortly before her death, was awful, and I thought maybe this would be a way to do something....
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SMU Dad
posted 8/31/07 @ 7:57 AM CST
thanks so much for your note. A couple of comments:
1) actually, culture CAN be fixed. Culture CAN be dictated. It CAN be led. 'Culture' is the collection of unwritten rules and norms that people use to guide their behavior. It is what is acceptable to the people. And what is apparently is acceptable to people is that it is OK to urge and watch your friends kill themselves with drugs. It is NOT like these people did this in isolation. No one stepped up. THAT is what needs to be fixed.
2) Because apparently it is OK to a number of people to LIE when one of their friends dies. This is a moral and ethical problem. But I cant believe that the lying didn't happen without a LOT of coaching from 'above'. But you gotta ask yourself - are these the kind of people I want in my University? They are the kind of people SMU is admitting; does the problem actually start further up the line - in the Admissions office? They're coming in with these ethics.
3) SMU is NOT defenseless in the culture war. There are things it can do - with existing tools at its disposal - that change the range of acceptable behavior on and (to a certain extent) off campus. It would be like policing the guys who break the glass windows on buildings (ref Rudy Guliani and NYPD). The lesson is: a little extreme behavior by just a few individuals degrades the whole experience for everyone. So I say - get them out. We know who they are, and we know why so many Freshmen left this year. They dont want any part of it.
My belief is (and I am being extreme here for purposes of illustration) that about two months of concerted hard-core police activity that targets the source of the problem - and kicking malefactors out of school - would be enough to send a clear, clarion signal to student body that it IS NOT business as usual. Lock down kind of thing.
4) As to existing tools, I would (if I were President) want to have a full accounting of ALL options available to me to combat this problem. Not limited to just Task Force recommendations. Legal and otherwise. Because the problem is NOT endemic on all campuses, despite colloquial protestations (e.g., BYU?).
5) The University is exposed here - morally, ethically and LEGALLY. It comes back to your point about helping the one, two or three people in your midst. From a University POV, all I know is - if there is ONE more alcohol-related death in a campus-related event - parents would have a strong civil basis to come after SMU, President, Leadership and - individuals in charge of the organizations sponsoring the events. If I were President, I would want to have a full, rich and deep understanding of ALL of my options. NOTHING should be off the table.